Gov. Nixon takes action on several bills related to the judicial system, utilities and children

The Governor also vetoes several pieces of legislation. The following is from a press release from Nixon’s office:

The Governor signed:

House Bill 142, which, among its many provisions related to utilities, encourages energy efficiency and domestic production of cleaner energy by exempting solar panels from certain property taxes.

House Bill 148, which prevents a military parent’s deployment or potential future deployment from being the sole factor to support a permanent modification of an existing child custody or visitation order.

House Bill 374, which modifies several areas of law regarding the justice system, including establishing a system for reorganization of the state’s judicial circuits.

House Bill 432, which provides explicit statutory authority for the Public Service Commission (PSC) to intervene in federal administrative, regulatory, and judicial hearings on behalf of the state before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

House Bill 675, which requires the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop guidelines for training school employees in the care needed for students with diabetes.

Senate Bill 327, which authorizes county commissions to cover the costs of providing electronic monitoring to certain criminal defendants.

“It is poor public policy to deny individuals who receive poor medical care access to the legal system simply because the person who provided the care was a volunteer,” Gov. Nixon said in the press release. “This is especially true given that Missouri already has a system in place that encourages volunteerism and protects both volunteer health professionals and the patients they treat.”

The Governor also vetoedHouse Bill 339 regarding persons involved in motor vehicle accidents. The Governor cited the legislation’s various ambiguities that would generate excessive litigation over how the provisions would apply to injured Missourians. The Governor’s veto message onHouse Bill 339 is available here.

The Governor also vetoedSenate Bill 77, which would have exempted Girls Incorporated of St. Louis from state childcare requirements, including the required staff to child ratios, safety inspections, emergency preparedness planning, fire inspections, and sanitation inspections. The Governor’s veto message on Senate Bill 77 is available here.

The Governor also vetoedSenate Bill 110, which would have required foster care applicants to submit a third set of fingerprints to the Missouri Children’s Division at the time of initial licensure for the Children’s Division to submit to the highway patrol every two years as the foster parent applies for re-licensure. However, electronically stored applicant fingerprints can be used to generate subsequent state and federal background checks, making an additional set of prints unnecessary, costly and burdensome. The Governor’s veto message on Senate Bill 110 is available here.

The Governor also vetoedSenate Bill 73, which contained language inconsistent with language contained in similar pieces of legislation concerning the use of a court-approved private probation services. The Governor’s veto message on Senate Bill 73 is available here.